Rail joint



May 2, 1939.

III

Hill] Patented May 2, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAIL JOINTApplication November 26, 1937, Serial No. 176,729

3 Claims.

My invention relates to rail joints, and includes among its objects andadvantages the provision of an improved splice bar shim.

In standard rail joints employing rigid splice 5 bars for connectingabutting ends of rails, considerable wear occurs on the medial areas ofthe splice bars as well as on the rail heads and base flanges at suchareas. In tracks carrying unidirectional traflic, the wear is morepronounced l and localized in a higher degree. Not only does the railhead and base flange become worn at the medial areas of the splice bars,but the load supporting faces of the rail heads become worn adjacenttheir abutting ends. In unidirectional tracks II the load carrying facesof the approached rail ends are subjected to considerable wear andrequire frequent building up to bring the lower rail end up to the levelof the adjacent rail end. Such rail and restoration requiresconsiderable go time and labor. Thus, in unidirectional tracks one railend in each joint is subjected to more wear than the abutting rail end,while additional wear occurs between the under face of that rail headand the splice bar and on the lower edge of the splice bar and the baseplate of the adjacent rail. Therefore, an object of my invention is toprovide a rail joint shim designed to co-operate with conventionalsplice bars in such a manner as to compensate for the localized wear onthe upper edge 30 of the splice bar and underneath one of the rail headsand on the bottom edge of the splice bar adjacent the base plate on theadjoining rail.

Another object is to provide a rail joint shim designed to bring thelower rail to the proper level 35 with respect to the adjacent railbefore building up the end of the excessively worn rail head.

Another object is to provide a rail joint shim designed to compensatewear between the splice bar and the rail and in which the shim isdesigned a for co-operation with conventional rails and splice bars.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a rail joint showing my inventionapplied thereto with the splice part broken away for the sake ofclearness;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the shim.

In the embodiment selected for illustration, the w shim [0 comprises ametal plate l2 shaped to provide a flange l4 arranged to lie between theupper edge I6 of the splice bar l8 and underneath the surface 20 of therail head 22. Diagonally opposite the flange l4 the plate I2 is shapedto .5 provide a flange 24 arranged to lie between the lower edge 26 ofthe splice bar l8 and against the surface 28 of the base flange 30 of anadjacent rail.

Plate I2 is in the nature of two plate areas 32 and 34 integrallyconnected with the flanges l4 5 and 24, respectively. Flange l4 and theplate area 32 taper outwardly to feather edges 36, while flange 24 andthe plate area 34 taper outwardly to feather edges 38.

Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate conventional rail ends 4!] and 42 connected bythe splice bars l8 and bolts 44. Each rail joint includes two splicebars and two shims ID of identical construction so that the descriptionof one side will apply to both. In connection with Fig. 1, assuming thatthe trafific is unidirectional as indicated by the arrow 46, the railend 42 immediately adjacent the rail end 40 is subjected to considerablewear on the load carrying face of its head 22. In time, the rail end 42becomes worn to such a degree as to require a building up. Inunidirectional trackage considerable wear occurs between the upper edgesof the splice bars l8 and the faces 20 of the rails 42. Such wear is atits maximum at the end of the rail and tapers gradually inwardlythereof. In most cases very little if any wear occurs between the upperedges of the splice bars [8 at their ends or on the faces 20 at suchareas. At the same time, the lower edges of the splice bars l8 wearexcessively adjacent the faces 28 on the rail ends 40. The faces 28 alsobecome worn, but this wear and the wear on the lower edges of the splicebars I8 is at its maximum adjacent the rail end 42 and tapers inwardlyof the rail ends 40 and outwardly of the splice bars.

To compensate such distribution of wear, I place a shim Ill adjacenteach face of the web 48 of adjacent rails. While Fig. 1 illustrates onlyone shim, the shim on the opposite side is directly opposite the shimillustrated. The shim of Fig. 3 is not reversible so that two forms ofshims are provided. These shims are identical in construction with theexception that the parts are so reversed as to bring corresponding partsin opposed relation when applied to the rails. 46

In Fig. 1, I illustrate the manner in which the shims are applied to therails, at which time the bolt 44 in the position 50 is partly encircledby the curvature 52 of the shim. The shim is provided with a secondcurvature 54 which partly encircles the bolt 44 in the position 56. Thecurvatures 52 and 54 are of sufficient depth to easily accommodate thetwo bolts, but the curvatures co-operate with the bolts to preventendwise movement of the shims. At the same time, the shims are cut 66relation with the flanges l4 and 2d.

away at 58 and 60 to terminate slightly short of the rail ends, thuspreventing overlapping relation with the rails 40 and 62, respectively.While the curvatures 52 and 534 permit slight endwise movement of theshim, the movement is not sufficient to shift the flanges M and 24 intooverlapping relation with the rails 40 and 42, respectively.

In operation, the splice bars l8 have pressure relation with the faces20 and 28 and are at all times spaced slightly from the webs t8. Afterplacement of the shims and the splice bars IS, the bolts 4-: aretightened. Such tightening of the bolts i l draws the splice bars I8into pressure As the bolts are tightened, the splice bars it are drawnhome, at which time the flanges l4 and 2t are pressed between the splicebars and the rail head and base flange. In Fig. 1, I have illustratedthe rail end 42 as being lifted slightly as at 62. At the same time, therail end fit is slightly lower than the other rail, but the uppersurfaces lie substantially in the same plane. According to Fig. 1, theflanges i5 and 2d act as fillers, whereby proper pressure relation isagain established between the splice bars l8 and the rail heads andflanges.

In the drawing I have illustrated one size of the shim, but in actualpractice shims of different shiznming value may be carried in stock soas to meet different repair conditions. The flanges it, 2Q, 32 and 34will be made up in different degrees of taper, but the length will varyslightly, depending upon the degree of taper. Relatively thin flanges orflanges having a slight I degree of taper will be slightly shorter, butunder all conditions, the flanges will be tapered to a feather edge. Ihave found that flanges varying in thickness from .03, .05 to .07 of aninch are sufllcient to meet all practical requirements with the thinnestflanges made approximately one inch shorter than the longest. The lengthis calculated from the vertical center line of the shim as a whole.

Fig. 1 illustrates the manner in which my shim -;compensates wear withthe load supporting face of the rail end 42 built up to the exact levelof the rail end 40.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully explain myinvention that others may,

'by applying current knowledge, readily adapt the same for use undervarious conditions of service.

I claim:

1. In a rail joint, the combination of rails each having a head and abase flange, splice bars cooperable on said heads and the base flangesfor connecting the rails, a shim positioned between each splice bar andthe rails, each shim having a tapered flange positioned between onesplice bar and the head of one rail, each shim having a second taperedflange positioned between one splice bar and the base flange of theother rail, said flanges tapering in the direction of the ends of theshims, and bolts passing through the splice bars and the rails, eachshim including a diagonal reach interconnecting the flanges of thatshim, said diagonal reaches including shoulders spaced closely adjacentto bolts, to restrain the shim from endwise relative movement.

2. In a rail joint, the combination of rails each having a head and abase flange, splice bars cooperable on said heads and the base flangesfor connecting the rails, a shim positioned between each splice bar andthe rails, each shim having a flange positioned between one splice barand the head of one rail, each shim having a second flange positionedbetween one splice bar and the base flange of the other rail, the firstmentioned flange tapering in the direction of its free end, and boltspassing through the splice bars and the rails, each shim including adiagonal reach interconnecting the flanges of that shim, said diagonalreaches including shoulders spaced closely adjacent to bolts, torestrain the shim from endwise relative movement.

3. In a rail joint, the combination of rails each having a head and abase flange, splice bars cooperable on said heads and the base flangesfor connecting the rails, a shim positioned between each splice bar andthe rails, each shim having a flange positioned between one splice barand the head of one rail, each shim having a second flange positionedbetween one splice bar and the base flange of the other rail, one ofsaid flanges tapering in the direction of its free end, and boltspassing through the splice bars and the rails, each shim including adiagonal reach interconnecting the flanges of that shim, said diagonalreaches including shoulders spaced closely adjacent to bolts, torestrain the shim from endwise relative movement.

ELMER SCHUPPNER.

